A neighbour rescued two children from a burning house which had a battery missing from its smoke detector.

Firefighters also saved a woman from the first floor of the home in Ordnance Close, Feltham, on Friday afternoon (February 24).

The children were lowered to safety from a window ledge, unhurt, before fire crews arrived, and the woman was taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service suffering from smoke inhalation.

The fire started on the ground floor, which was slightly damaged.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “The property was fitted with a smoke detector, but the battery was missing.

"It is very important that you don’t remove smoke detector batteries for any other uses in the home.

"It is essential that you have a working smoke alarm. Smoke alarms provide vital early warning and buy you extra time to escape if there is a fire.”

Two fire engines and about 12 firefighters and officers from Feltham Fire Station and Staines Fire Station, in Surrey, attended the incident.

The Brigade was called at 4.15pm and the fire was under control at 4.40pm.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.